Category Archives: Feature Stories

Los Angeles-Regular visitors and tourists driving or walking around Olvera Street, Sunday, June 4, 2017, thought that they were on a journey through Cuba for cultural enrichment. Yambu Productions teamed up with La Plaza de Cultura Y Artes to present the inaugural Cuban American Music Festival, Sunday, June 4, 2017.

Los Angeles, CA – With just over two weeks before the red carpet is rolled out, the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (lagff.org) is officially announcing its 2017 program selection. The five-day festival takes place from June 7-11 at the Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood showcasing 13 features, 22 shorts, and 15 documentaries from around the globe including America, France, UK, Germany, Cyprus and Greece. This year’s program contains a record 40 premieres -19 U.S. , 10 west coast, 7 Los Angeles premieres and 4 world premieres within the program.

Los Angeles-In honor of the festival’s 31st Anniversary, Jazz Reggae Festival celebrated three decades of good vibes, jammin’ music, delicious cultural cuisine and cultural enrichment. This was a one day affair, Monday, May 29, 2017, at the grassy, tree lined Sunset Canyon Recreation Center.

This was the perfect setting on this partially overcast day, with the sun making an appearance in the afternoon. Thousands, including UCLA students, and music lovers from throughout Greater Los Angeles area were in attendance on Memorial day for the good vibes. There were a wide array of cultural foods, arts and crafts.

GRATON, Calif. — Yard workers, floor installers, car mechanics, carpenters, painters, cleaning women and farm workers – some undocumented, others with legal status – gathered at the Centro Laboral De Graton facility here recently to hear why they should take advantage of all the health programs available to them, instead of withdrawing into the shadows because of the xenophobic climate created by the Trump administration.

As editor and publisher of The Immigrant Magazine, I not only get the chance to explore the beautiful and diverse cultures that make up the fabric of the USA but also to represent and bring resources to communities. It is in this spirit therefore that while working on outreach on behalf of the newly opened Comprehensive Community Healthcare Centers, Sunland (CCHC Sunland) I noticed a carnival coming up in Tujunga close to CCHC and just could not resist attending.

OAKLAND, Calif. – Some undocumented parents are not enrolling their children in a free, full-scope health care program for fear their information will reach the federal government’s hand, says Street Level Health Project worker Norma Calmo.

Nor will they enroll in the food stamps program, even if it means having to make do with very little to eat.

Amid news of stepped-up deportation efforts under President Donald Trump, many of the estimated 700,000 public school students in California who have at least one undocumented parent are living in constant fear that their families will be torn apart. This story originally appeared in the California Health Report.

Each time 17-year-old Stephanie gets a call or text message on her cell phone at school, her heart starts pounding and her hands begin to sweat.

“I think, ‘Oh my God, they took them. This is it,’” said the Ventura County high school student. “I can’t concentrate on what’s going on.”

While at school, Stephanie texts her mom constantly to check on her, something she never used to do. At home, she races to be the person to answer each time the phone rings or there’s a knock at the door. Late at night, she lies awake wondering how she’ll take care of her two younger siblings if her parents get deported.

SAN FRANCISCO – In 2011, San Diego resident Spike Dolomite found out she had late stage breast cancer. She and her husband were “cash poor and only a miracle could save me,” she said to herself at the time.

Luckily for her, the Affordable Care Act allowed her to aggressively treat her breast cancer and send it into remission. Her coverage allows her to continue to be monitored by her doctors and live a normal life.

Now, like millions of other people across the country, she’s terrified she’ll become uninsured again. On May 4, the House voted 217-213 to gut the ACA, making health insurance unaffordable to an estimated 24 million people nationwide, 4 million of them in California.

SAN FRANCISCO — Civil rights organizations are sounding the alarm over a proposal by Trump’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that would require visa holders from China to turn over their social media “handles.”

Over 30 civil rights groups signed onto a letter opposing the plan, saying it would increase racial profiling, erode internet freedom and privacy, and would not be effective at advancing security.

“There is no rational or substantiated argument for this proposal,” said Vincent Pan, director of Chinese for Affirmative Action. “The only thing we can speculate is that it is part of a larger policy against people of color and immigrants.”

Westminster, CA – The Việt Báo Gallery is pleased to announce a solo art exhibition of new works by Ann Phong. The “Sea of Life” exhibtion will run from May 5 – 7, 2017, from12:00pm-5:00pm. The artist will be present at the opening reception on Friday, May 5thfrom 6:00pm – 8:00pm.

Phong has been known in the Vietnamese American community through her participation in many group exhibitions and art activism since the 1990s. “Sea of Life” is her rare solo exhibition which features around 40 acryclic and mixed media pieces.